Government Shutdown Impacts National Parks in Ohio Valley

National parks are ready to welcome back visitors after a brief government shutdown.

During a partial government shutdown, maintenance employees, tour guides and most other personnel are furloughed. Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park was one of many parks with limited services and that meant no cave tours over the weekend. Even in winter that’s a big deal. John Garder at the National Parks Conservation Association, said visitors spent more than $30,000 on an average January day at Mammoth Cave in 2016.

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“But no matter how you look at it this situation has been very damaging to parks, to their visitors, threatening to park resources and threatening to those local economies that depend on congress doing its job and providing some consistent funding for our national parks,” he said.

Garder said budget cuts mean parks have lost about 10 percent of their staff over the last five years while there’s been a nearly 20 percent increase in visitation. He said it’s difficult to ensure the protection of the parks resources when they’re operating on a skeleton crew. A spokesperson for Mammoth Cave said most employees were put on furlough but park rangers remained in the park to protect resources and facilities.

According to the National Parks Service, in 2016 national parks in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia saw more than seven million visitors and supported 4,700 jobs.

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The National Park Service says a disease deadly to bats known as white-nose syndrome has been discovered in passageways of Mammoth Cave that are open to park visitors. Park spokeswoman Vicki Carson says there are no plans to change the way the park operates its tours or research.

Approved cleaning methods recommended by the Us S. Fish and Wildlife Service are being adhered to. For some time, visitors have had to walk through bio-security mats as they exit cave tours, for instance.

The disease was found in remote sections of Mammoth Cave last year. Carson says discovery of it in passageways open to visitors wasn't unexpected. White-nose syndrome has killed millions of cave-dwelling bats in eastern North America. Park superintendent Sarah Craighead said the disease affects bats, not humans.

Sarah Craighead will take over in November as Mammoth Cave National Park's new superintendent, the same place she started her National Parks career more than thirty years ago. Craighead is a Hart County native who began working summers at the park as a campground ranger and cave guide while she was a Transylvania College student.